Murray County Central is in need of a new competition gym floor. The MCC School Board has made the decision to purchase a new gym floor and is asking the alumni, former staff, businesses and other faithful donors that have many fond memories on the original “Wildcats” and “Rebels” floor to help donate to the cause. The reason a new floor is needed is because the existing floor has outlived its design life of 30-40 years. This year was 66 years of life on the floor! The surface can no longer be sanded down and the technology of the old “floor system” is not safe for our athletes. (See below for more history of the existing floor.) It was decided last year that a new wood floor would be installed. We are asking for your help in this important project that the students and entire community will be able to utilize for decades to come. The new floor project will cost $311,327. This includes the demo of the existing floor system, new concrete underlayment layer, furnish and install of new Rezill Channel floor system that is stained, painted, and sealed, along with several bleacher moves to accommodate demo, self-leveling work, and install. The school has $100,000 in long term facility maintenance that has been planned and Woodstock Communications along with Ken and Marlys Knuth has agreed to give us a substantial gift of $100,000 to help pay for this project! Our goal is to raise another $100,000 to pay for the rest of the floor project. Will you consider supporting this project with a yearend tax-deductible gift to MCC? A plaque will be placed at the entry of the gym with different tiers showing people’s generous support. The tiers will be as follows: Platinum ($5,000+), Gold ($1,000+), Silver ($500), and Bronze ($100). People will also be able to purchase a small section of the old floor for a keepsake starting at $100. This will be on a “first to sign-up, first to get” list until all is gone! We look forward to what the future holds for the school and making many more lasting memories in the MCC Competition Gymnasium.
Floor History
As the saying goes “there is a time for everything, for everything there is a season”. The competition gym floor at MCC has had many basketball and volleyball seasons played on it, many graduation tears shed on it, hundreds of community events, and thousands of physical education classes held on it. How many you ask, well 66 years’ worth of memories both happy and sad.
In the fall of 1957, Slayton High School’s new gymnasium held its first event. The original floor system was installed on top of a concrete slab that has 2x4 boards placed on their side that were mortared in place. 1x6 planks here nailed to the stringers and then the maple floor was nailed to the base. This was the standard installation in the 1950’s and there was little concern for performance at the time. Since the floors inception, it has gone through numerous sanding stages and yearly refinishing along with water damage from leaks or accidents over its 66 years of life. The school and community have done a great job of keeping the projected life of 30-40 years last for 66 years but its life is complete and it has served its purpose.
New Gym Floor
The project bid was awarded to JWOOD Sports Flooring based out of Hudson, Wisconsin. They will be installing a Connor Sports floor Rezill Channel -01 floor system. The new floor system will have 2 full layers of ½ inch plywood in the subfloor which allows overlap of the seams of the two layers and ties the one inch of subfloor together for stability prior to nailing the maple channel system on top of the subfloor. The new floor system also has individual rubber performance pads spaced at 2 pads per square foot to maximize ball rebound, shock absorption and vertical deflection which all allow for greater safety on the athletes and students playing on the surface.
Floor Sign-up /Donation Information
Students, parents, alumni and anyone else who wants a piece of school history that dates back to 1957, will be able to sign up on a link that will be advertised soon. The floor will not be able to be taken out until school is finished at the end of May but we want people to have a chance to sign up and take the pieces of the floor as it is taken out. Tax deductible donations can also be made to ISD 2169 for the new gym floor project!